Friday, August 5, 2011

DeMaio’s Real Jobs Plan? You Can Find It In The City’s Print Shop

SAN DIEGO – Councilmember and mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio held a press conference to announce a plan he insists will create jobs at some point.

Yet the only jobs DeMaio has supported in his time seeking the media spotlight have been at the city’s print shop, where he’s used city-funded resources to increase his name identification in a never-ending campaign for higher officer. It has been a consistent theme of DeMaio’s tenure on the Council.

The Union-Tribune has addressed DeMaio’s regular use of taxpayer funding to feed his appetite for public attention. The paper published an article entitled “Spending on Mailers Cost City Large Sum.” The article states that DeMaio “sent 45 times as many taxpayer-funded invitations last year as all the city’s other elected officials combined, according to records obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune under the California Public Records Act.

In a Union-Tribune editorial, “Officials’ Clumsy Actions,” the U-T noted that DeMaio spent $32,000 in public money for the mailers, which prominently featured Carl DeMaio. The mailers included headlines such as “Carl DeMaio wants to keep your home and family safe,” and “Carl DeMaio fixing the city’s financial crisis.”

Kyle Haverback, spokesman for the Carl DeMaio’s Too Extreme for San Diego campaign, said, “It is disappointing but not surprising that Carl DeMaio poses as a taxpayer watchdog but has used more public resources that any other city official, all to further his personal political ambitions.”

DeMaio’s Never-Ending Taxpayer-Funded Campaign

DeMaio spent $32,000 in taxpayer-funded mailers during his first year in office

In February 2010, the Union-Tribune reported that Carl DeMaio spent $32,000 on taxpayer-funded mailers during his first year in office. DeMaio’s mailers were sent to constituents, inviting them to town-hall meetings.

“As Union-Tribune reporter Craig Gustafson revealed, DeMaio spent that sum in his first year in office on sending mailers to his constituents’ homes inviting them to town hall meetings he held on pressing issues facing the city.”

The Union-Tribune continued, “His name was prominently featured on the mailings in headlines such as ‘Carl DeMaio wants to keep your home and family safe’ and ‘Carl DeMaio fixing the city’s financial crisis.’”

DeMaio Sent 45 Times as Many Mailers as All Other Elected Officials Combined; Amount of Mailers Surpassed Regulatory Threshold that Restricted Mailer Content

“He sent 45 times as many taxpayer-funded invitations last year as all the city’s other elected officials combined, according to records obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune under the California Public Records Act. The newspaper requested information on any mailing paid for by taxpayers that was sent to 200 or more people – the threshold under state law that triggers content restrictions for mailers, such as limiting mailers to one mention of a politician’s name.”
(San Diego Union Tribune, “Spending on Mailers Cost City Large Sum,” January 31, 2010)
Money on Mailers Could Have Paid A Fire Recruit’s Annual Salary

“Frank De Clercq, head of the city’s firefighters union, said the money DeMaio spent could have paid the $31,000 annual salary for a fire recruit.”

The “Carl DeMaio’s Too Extreme For San Diego” campaign is a project of the San Diego Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which represents more than 192,000 union workers in the region while advocating for more jobs, better jobs and better lives for all local workers, union and non-union. To learn more, visit www.unionyes.org.